Prime Suspect 2 (1992)

How sad is this?

Don't Believe the Hype

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) demonstrates interrogation techniques with DS Robert Oswalde (Colin Salmon). She has a fling with him and breaks up. A skeleton is found buried in the yard of a home in a black community. Racial tension is high and the case uncovers dark secrets. D Supt Michael Kernan (John Benfield) recruits Oswalde to be the token black investigator on the case.The chain-smoking is gone and so is the blatant sexism. There is racial politics instead. This is more in line with a police procedural and I like this case better than the first series. Colin Salmon is a terrific actor and has great acting chops to match Mirren. The whodunit aspect is good. Overall, it's a solid TV cop movie.

This is possibly even better than the Prime Suspect I. DCI Tennison has to find a murderer when the body of an unknown teenage girl is dug up from a suburban garden.The theme of tensions between the Afro-Caribbean community and the Metropolitan Police is added to the mix of Tennison's personal life and police politics.There are some unforgettable scenes, such as when the hysterical mother of another missing girl identifies all the items found with the body as belonging to her daughter, as well as Tennison's own watch that she surreptitiously puts on the table.There is also a magnificent sequence lasting about half an hour that starts with a deathbed confession and ends with tragedy in the police cells. This was one of the most gripping pieces of television I have ever watched. At over three hours the writer and director can again take their time in revealing the plot to have the maximum effect of the viewer.The acting is again superb. Helen Mirren is brilliant, as are all the supporting cast. Tennison is almost an anti-heroine. She makes no secret of her desire to climb the promotion ladder in the force and her personal life is a mess. However she is a superb copper, using her gut instinct as well as normal police procedure to get to the bottom of the grisly murder.Needless to say I can't wait to watch the rest of the complete Prime Suspect box set.

I was flipping through channels and came across this second installment of the Prime Suspect mini-series which star Helen Mirren. However I'm not really a fan of the series, but was very impressed with the performance of Colin Salmon, who plays Sgt. Robert Oswalde. Salmon since then has worked on films such as the Bond films, Resident Evil, and the mini-series Dinotopia, however didn't ever have such a big part as he does in Prime Suspect 2. Salmon is very good in this role and his performance alone is a reason to watch it. Pretty decent mini-series.SCORE: 7 out of 10 (good)

Yes, this terrific four-hour (really 3.? hours) miniseries (actually, just a long movie when you think about it) deserves far more accolades on this here site.I don't have much to add, except to say that I thought this was a notable improvement on PS I -- truly impressive stuff that, for me, didn't QUITE live up to the hype.This one, however, exceeds it. If you're a fellow fan of T.V. police procedurals, this is possibly better than even the very best episodes of "Homicide" and definitely far more fleshed out and believable than any episode of "Cracker" -- and with an lead actor every bit the equal of the amazing Robbie Coltrane. This one was powerful stuff indeed, upsetting at times, complex in the best possible way and constantly fascinating.And Helen Mirren as Jane Tennyson is, in her own way, almost as morally ambiguous and psychologically messed up as poly-addicted Fitz of "Cracker"...In a world where most movie cops fear promotions and the specter of a desk job more than death itself, she just may be the first truly careerist detective hero.The only thing missing is that there's little humor here, but that's probably appropriate too. In the case of Jane Tennyson, a policeman's lot is definitely not a happy one!